so i just passed my technician about 4 months ago and ive been making contacts here and there, mostly on 2m and some HF with my general upgrade i did last month. someone in my local club told me i should be uploading to LoTW but then someone else said eQSL is better and then another guy said i should still send paper cards. im kind of overwhelmed honestly.

like whats the actual difference between them and do i need all three? i downloaded the TQSL software and it looks super complicated, i couldnt figure out where to even start. and do people actually still mail physical QSL cards or is that kind of a dying thing? i dont want to be rude and not send one if someone expects it.

any help would be appreciated, still learning all this stuff

welcome to the hobby, dont stress too much about this. the short version is that LoTW is run by the ARRL and is the most trusted for award credit — things like DXCC and WAS pretty much require it. eQSL is a seperate system, some people use it some dont, and a lot of the big awards dont accept it but its fine for casual confirming. paper cards are still very much a thing and honestly there's something really nice about getting a card in the mail from some DX station, but they're not strictly required unless you're chasing awards that specifically need them.

for TQSL, the setup does look intimidating but once you get your certificate loaded and your station location set up it becomes pretty routine. the arrl has a walkthrough on their site that actually isnt bad. i'd say just get LoTW going first since thats the one that matters most for awards, then worry about eQSL and paper cards later once you figure out what kind of operating interests you.

yeah i was in the same boat when i started, felt like everyone expected me to already know all this. i ended up just doing LoTW because thats what my elmer told me to do and it works fine. i do send paper cards occasionally when i work someone really rare or if they send me one first — feels weird not to respond to a physical card. but i dont go out of my way to mail cards for every contact, thats just not realistic with how many qsos people log these days.

eQSL i have an account but honestly i forget to upload to it half the time. some people really care about it though so maybe worth setting up eventually.